Conventionally known are systems to observe a surrounding target (automobile, ship, airplane, etc.) by using a sensor such as radar or camera mounted on a moving body (automobile, ship, airplane, etc.) and to support smooth operation so as to prevent collision between the moving body and target.
Techniques to support operation according to information obtained from the sensor are described in a number of papers, patent references, and the like. Various proposals are made for devices and methods to implement these techniques.
Representative examples include a collision avoidance technique for automobiles. In this technique, another vehicle (target) is observed by radar or an optical sensor mounted to a user's vehicle (moving body), and, when it is found that a distance to the user's vehicle and an approaching velocity reach a threshold, it determines that there is a possible collision, and it warns or controls travelling itself of the user's vehicle.
Further, in technique disclosed in Patent reference 1, by extrapolating from estimation results of motions of the user's vehicle and another vehicle as of the present time, prediction ranges of the user's vehicle and another vehicle at a certain time in the future are calculated, and the collision possibility is determined according to whether they overlap with each other. For example in FIG. 15, prediction ranges of a user's vehicle 50 and the other vehicle 60 are calculated for four sampling timings. In this example, the prediction range of the user's vehicle 50 and that of the other vehicle 60 does not overlap at any of the sampling timings and thus determination of “no collision possibility” is made.